Gold Medalist Carlos Yulo: An Olympian's Journey from Manila to Paris

Carlos Yulo can finally call himself an Olympic champion, a title he has long pursued with unwavering dedication and talent, after claiming the gold medal in the Men's Floor Exercise at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, August 3 (21:30, Manila time).

The 24-year-old gymnast not only secured the Philippines' first medal at the Summer Olympics 2024, but also cemented his name as the first Filipino recipient of an Olympic medal for gymnastics and the second Olympic gold in the country's history. Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz bagged the Philippines' first Olympic gold at the Tokyo Olympics.

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Carlos Yulo's Paris Olympics 2024 Floor Routine

The Floor Exercise is one of Yulo's favorites, among the other events he also participates in: Vault, Parallel Bars, Horizontal Bar, Still Rings, etc. And it showed.

Carlos Yulo earned a score of 15.000 after flawlessly executing a three-and-a-half twist dismount at the end of this routine. His difficulty was at 6.600 and execution at 8.400 with zero penalty points. This is higher than his score for the qualifying round of the floor exercise, where he placed second after getting a score of 14.766.

"In Paris 2024, Caloy comes back to the Olympic stage, so much more mature, level-headed and steady. It was apparent when he didn’t try to do the triple twisties in the qualifying, opting for a safer routine. Yet, he saved that for his final moment on the Floor," sports personality Gretchen Ho said in a post.

He performed third in the eight-player round of the men's floor exercise final, getting onstage after Tokyo 2020 gold medalist Artem Dolgopyat of Israel. Right after his performance, the judges revealed his score of 15.000, higher than the defending champion's score of 14.966. This meant that Yulo had to wait to see if the five other athletes performing after him would best his score—they did not.

Feeling overwhelmed at what he had just accomplished, Yulo dropped to his knees. His Paris Olympics page, after all, indicates "To win gold at Paris 2024" as his ambition.

Journey from the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Malate to the Bercy Arena in Paris

Carlos Yulo, known affectionately as "Caloy," was born on February 16, 2000, in Manila. Having lived along Leveriza Street in Malate, he grew up watching Filipino gymnasts train at the nearby Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

At the tender age of seven, Yulo's boundless energy while tumbling at a local playground prompted his grandfather to take him to a gymnastics tryout at the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines. While already training, he went on to study at the Aurora A. Quezon Elementary School, then Adamson University for secondary education.

Yulo's first competition was at the Palarong Pambansa in 2009 in Tacloban, Leyte, where his team bagged the gold medal, and he won the silver medal in the floor exercise. He ranked fifth in the individual all-around. The following year, he competed in all gymnastics events of the Palarong Pambansa in Tarlac, where he won gold in the all-around and floor exercise and bronze in the vault. Yulo went on to compete (and bag several medals) annually in the Palarong Pambansa up until the local competition's edition in 2013 in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental.

The following year, Yulo started joining international games as a junior: the 2014 ASEAN School Games, the 2014 Pacific Rim Championships, the 2015 International Junior Competition, and so on. In 2016, he started training under Coach Munehiro Kugiyama in Japan through a scholarship program by the International Gymnastics Federation, Japan Gymnastics Association, and Gymnastics Association of the Philippines. There, he completed an Associate Degree in Literature from Teikyo University in Tokyo in 2022.

Yulo's senior international debut was at the 2018 Melbourne World Cup, where he took home the bronze medal on the vault. He later joined the Doha World Cup, the 2018 Asian Games, the World Championships, and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

In the Tokyo Olympics, Yulo ranked fourth in the Men's Vault finals with a score of 14.716, just .017 points off bronze medalist Artur Davtyan of Armenia. "Hindi po ako susuko," he said back then.

In 2023, Yulo parted ways with Kugimiya after seven years and went back to Manila to train under Aldrin Castañeda, who was his coach during his junior years.

To date, Yulo has the following medal count in the Olympic Games, World Championships, Asian Championships, and Southeast Asian Games:

• Olympic Games - 2 Gold (updated)
• World Championships - 2 Gold, 2 Silver, 2 Bronze
• Asian Championships - 10 Gold, 2 Silver, 1 Bronze
• Southeast Asian Games - 9 Gold, 9 Silver

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What Yulo Is Getting After the Olympic Gold

Under Republic Act 10699 or the National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act, gold medalists in individual events at the Summer Olympic and Winter Olympic Games are entitled to get P10 million and an Olympic Gold Medal of Valor to be issued by the Philippine Sports Commission.

The Philippine Olympic Committee also pledged to give gold medalists a house and lot.

House appropriations panel chair and Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co also confirmed that the House of Representatives is awarding P3 million to Yulo.

Megaworld, which has previously committed to rewarding each Filipino gold medalist with a P24-million worth fully furnished condominium unit, already announced awarding Yulo with a two-bedroom unit in McKinley Hill.

Vikings Luxury Buffet at SM Megamall, in a Facebook post, said that they're giving Yulo a "lifetime free Vikings buffet."

UPDATE (August 4, 11:20 p.m.): Carlos Yulo bagged his second gold medal after a 15.116 score at the Vault event held on Sunday, August 4.

UPDATE (August 5, 2:20 p.m.): Megaworld announced that they're upgrading Carlos Yulo's reward to a three-bedroom unit worth P32 million plus a cash bonus of P3 million, for a total of P35 million.

UPDATE (August 8): Philippine Airlines is awarding Yulo with an upgraded 150,000 Mabuhay Miles per year for life. This is part of PAL's initial pledge to the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) during an exclusive Olympic and Paralympic Athletes send-off last June 19, where the airline committed to award Mabuhay Miles to those who will bring home a medal.